Pokémon has been around for many years and it still has one of the biggest communities to date. It is difficult to create a world that equals the world of Pokémon. Pokémon has over 900 Pokémon, and over 100 Pokémon games, and still evolving/ experimenting with its mechanics and possibilities. However, TemTem might be the game that can definitely oppose Pokémon in its current state, offering new mechanics and new faces to the public. Let’s check it out.

TemTem is the game you’re probably looking for when you’re in the need of something else but still want to scratch that itch when it comes to catching monsters, leveling them, and becoming the greatest trainer/ tamer of them all. TemTem builds around the same concept as Pokémon but it does experiment with different routes to create something special and unique. You can tell that the developers want to create something unique and yet be so familiar for veteran Pokémon players, for them to pick the game up.

“As you can probably tell, I’m actually finding TemTem a breath of fresh air within this world of Pokémon giants.”

TemTem is a creature-collection adventure that takes place on the floating islands of the Airborne Archipelago. These different islands house different TemTems and different tamers to battle with. It’s also a game that mixes the classic elements of a creature-catching adventure with online multiplayer world elements. People are constantly online and are taking part in this dynamic world. The online world also provides you with weekly challenges that can help you progress with the online battle pass and provide you with cosmetic items that can help you with creating a distinctive character among others.

As you can probably tell, I’m actually finding TemTem a breath of fresh air within this world of Pokémon giants. The game builds further on the basic concepts of Pokémon and yet introduces the players to some features that were already long overdue in the current Pokémon games. Let’s talk about all of the features that made TemTem stand out from the Pokémon franchise. It does a lot of things the same way, for example, you start off your journey in becoming the best TemTem player and you’re chosen to choose one of the TemTems the professor has caught. There are TemTem cards to catch TemTem in the wild. You’re TemTem gains XP, they grow and learn special moves and eventually evolve into something bigger. TemTem can be used around the world to help you overcome certain obstacles like lifting a rock or surfing on the water, … There are trainers around the world that will battle you, and there are Dojos around the floating islands that will help you challenge your TemTem’s, … All of these things I liked in a Pokémon game, TemTem’s got it!

“TemTem tries to change the winning formula and make it it’s own.”

However, it doesn’t stop there… TemTem tries to change the winning formula and make it it’s own. They do this exceptionally well because it’s about the next features that make me like this game even more than Pokémon. For example, the game allows the player to re-structure his team and the first TemTem within the team runs around behind you in the world. So something simple and yet so alluring. TemTem also does its battles in teams of 2. You’re constantly battling with two TemTems at the same time and they do this for a special reason. TemTems sometimes have special attacks that only work with special types of TemTem fighting next to them. They give each other passive boosts that will help you with getting an advantage over the enemy. All of the TemTem also have passive traits that can shape the battlefield for the better. Pigepie for example decreases the opponent’s TemTem’s health bar by 30 percent at the moment of his/ her death. Other TemTem gain life when another TemTem falls in battle. Either way, this truly helps in creating the best team.

TemTem also uses action points to perform special attacks. Pokémon can lose their action points and gain a little bit back over time. However, TemTem’s will lose points with each attack they do and if they’ve reached a point where they’re using more AP than they can give, they’ll become over exhausted and they’ll lose a portion of their health bar. By choosing “rest” instead of an attack, they’ll skip their turn and they’ll gain their AP back.

“Anyway, I’m pretty excited about what the future holds.”

TemTem offers the main quest but also side quests to gain extra items or even TemTem’s. These quests are also not linear, in other words, the questing system is not always about receiving a quest and solving it first-handed. Some side quests can only be completed after you’ve done certain quests in a specific area. This allows the player to fully explore the world at their own pace.

The game looks very good in this top-down cartoonish presentation and the sound design is top-notch. I haven’t been confronted with any technical issues or bugs. Of course, the game has been in early access for quite some time, so the game probably has been polished to a certain degree. I just wonder what the developers mean by a dynamic world. Will there be more expansions? Will there be more live events in the near future? Events that will offer only cosmetic items or also TemTem’s? Anyway, I’m pretty excited about what the future holds.

Conclusion:

TemTem is a very good creature-catching adventure that does so many things right and it’s a shame that the Pokémon Company hasn’t been experimenting with the game’s features as they should. They’ve stuck to the same formula year after year, it’s only recently that the developers of Pokémon try to experiment. Anyway, TemTem is a breath of fresh air because of the nice features it has to offer. The TemTem look good and they can distinguish themselves from each other by their special traits and different synergies between them. It runs fluently and TemTem just has a lot more tactical opportunity than the classic Pokémon genre. The online world is great but I wonder what the future will hold for this game. They definitely are on the right track and I’ll definitely be coming back to see how it evolved. Hopefully, they keep on experimenting with new features. If you’re looking for something new and yet familiar, this will be the perfect game to give you that cure for the itch.

8,5/10

tested on PC